Equestrian tourism
Equestrian culture is an organic part of Hungarian national heritage and we have exceptionally good conditions to pursue this kind of sports. Today horse breeding and horse keeping serve sports- recreational and health tourism purposes and this is why horseback riding in riding schools, field riding, hunt riding, show jumping or coach driving, or, simply watching these events, represent special experiences for horse lovers. Due to our exceptionally good riding fields and reasonable prices Hungary played a leading role in Europe in equestrian tourism until the mid- 1980s. There was a temporary recession in the 1990s, but luckily, on the part of domestic tourists, it was followed by a new demand for equestrian sports as part of leisure time activities. For further details see: http://www.lovasok.hu/upload/Lovast_termekf_strategia.pdf
The significance of horseback riding has since been increasing despite the fact that it is quite costly. Nevertheless, it pays well: the care for the horse as a living being and the proximity to nature, are both factors, which have beneficial physiological and psychological effect on people. There are a large number of riding schools near the big cities of Hungary. They offer possibilites for horseback riding as leisure time activity, for children, as well as for adults. They also organize equestrian events , they teach and offer care for other people’s horses.
Equestrian tourism has relatively high specific expenditure. „Equestrian tourists during field riding spend as much as 160 euros/day and the average length of an equestrian tour is 6-10 days. (3)”. It is very important to improve the quality of services offered in equestrian tourism and its territorial distribution is to be made more even. There are many things to do concerning the sports-, recreation,- management-, and marketing-centred training of equestrian specialists, too.
A question of special significance is the marking out of safe trails for riding. These days there is a number of trails available, especially in the Kiskunmajsa region (e.g. Tanyakör Zöldút Trail), but in order to be competitive in the international market of equestrian tourism these trails need to be linked with one another and to similar networks of trails in the neighbouring countries. It is also of utmost importance for service providers to join the information system of equestrian tourism and give up-to-date information on trail, terrain and weather conditions, risks, rest areas and accomodation.